Throughout written history, many poets and writers have used their pens and words in order to discuss subjects that irritate them about the world in which they live. Some of you have seen it in your romantic poems. They write about problems they see with man, nature, the government, the world—all with very vivid descriptions about what is occurring right in front of the public’s eyes while many are blind to it.
Think of something in society that really irritates you. Think about a type of person who grates on your last nerve. Think of your pet peeve about human behavior. Write the topic, person, experience, etc. as a heading on a sheet of paper. Next, brainstorm. Simply rant and rave about what is happening. Use vivid imagery and complete descriptions in whatever you write. As you write, be as free as you would like with your wording. Language usually inappropriate for class is permissible ONLY IF it serves a specific purpose. Just be careful it is not overused, or it becomes unacceptable. (In other words, I don’t want your poem to become a movie script for Samuel L. Jackson.)
Now you need to turn that brainstorm into a poem. To do this, you will use an apostrophe or an allusion. Defined, an apostrophe is “a figure of speech in which a speaker directly addresses an absent or dead person, a deity, an abstract quality, or something nonhuman as if it were present and capable of responding.” For example, Shelley writes in his poem “To Wordsworth”, ‘Oh Poet of Nature, thou has wept to know…’. Wordsworth’s name is substituted by a symbolic name. He is reference directly in a way that describes who he is rather than using his name specifically. An allusion is similarly defined as, “a reference to a statement, person, place, event or thing that is known from literature, history, religion, myth, politics, or some other field of knowledge.” For example, when we say we know someone’s “Achilles heel”, it means his weakness, coming from when Trojan Prince Parisslays Achilles (the most powerful Greek warrior) by shooting an arrow through his heel. DO NOT use the specific name of a person or thing you are ranting about; come up with a phrase representative of that him/her/it. Direct the poem to him/her/it and continue on from there.
You will need to write a title for it. The poem should be a minimum of 15 lines long using an apostrophe or allusion. I would not recommend using rhyme for this poem because it would take away from the serious nature of it. Make sure we can tell what upsets you by your vivid details and descriptions.
Throughout written history, many poets and writers have used their pens and words in order to discuss subjects that irritate them about the world in which they live. Some of you have seen it in your romantic poems. They write about problems they see with man, nature, the government, the world—all with very vivid descriptions about what is occurring right in front of the public’s eyes while many are blind to it.
Think of something in society that really irritates you. Think about a type of person who grates on your last nerve. Think of your pet peeve about human behavior. Write the topic, person, experience, etc. as a heading on a sheet of paper. Next, brainstorm. Simply rant and rave about what is happening. Use vivid imagery and complete descriptions in whatever you write. As you write, be as free as you would like with your wording. Language usually inappropriate for class is permissible ONLY IF it serves a specific purpose. Just be careful it is not overused, or it becomes unacceptable. (In other words, I don’t want your poem to become a movie script for Samuel L. Jackson.)
Now you need to turn that brainstorm into a poem. To do this, you will use an apostrophe or an allusion. Defined, an apostrophe is “a figure of speech in which a speaker directly addresses an absent or dead person, a deity, an abstract quality, or something nonhuman as if it were present and capable of responding.” For example, Shelley writes in his poem “To Wordsworth”, ‘Oh Poet of Nature, thou has wept to know…’. Wordsworth’s name is substituted by a symbolic name. He is reference directly in a way that describes who he is rather than using his name specifically. An allusion is similarly defined as, “a reference to a statement, person, place, event or thing that is known from literature, history, religion, myth, politics, or some other field of knowledge.” For example, when we say we know someone’s “Achilles heel”, it means his weakness, coming from when Trojan Prince Parisslays Achilles (the most powerful Greek warrior) by shooting an arrow through his heel. DO NOT use the specific name of a person or thing you are ranting about; come up with a phrase representative of that him/her/it. Direct the poem to him/her/it and continue on from there.
You will need to write a title for it. The poem should be a minimum of 15 lines long using an apostrophe or allusion. I would not recommend using rhyme for this poem because it would take away from the serious nature of it. Make sure we can tell what upsets you by your vivid details and descriptions.